AGRIMONIA HIRSUTA (Muhl.).
Commonly 3°-4° tall (2°-6°), simple, to loosely wide branched above, minutely glandulose and somewhat viscid on the branches, aromatic. Stem usually zig-zag from leaf to leaf, villous-hirsute with slender spreading hairs. Leaves bright green, large, 4'-1 2' long, 3'—S' wide, the villous leaf-stalks usually with short petiolar portion. Leaflets large, rather thin, commonly three pairs (2-4 pairs), elliptic, broadly oblong or obovate_oblong, acute, sessile or subsessile, often with rounded or subcordate base, the odd leaflet short-stalked or subsessile with narrowed base, coarsely serrate with acute or somewhat rounded mucronulate teeth, the margins ciliate-fringed, upper surface glabrous or with short, scattered, appressed hairs, lower surface minutely, often sparsely, pulverulent-glandulose and with scattered hairs on the larger nerves, rarely subpubescent. A frequent size of the leaflets is abo ut X I an extremesize 5' X 3'. Interposed leaflets nor mally three pairs in the distal interspace, fewer or smaller in the lower interspaces, the middle pair much the largest, ovate or ob ovate from a broad base, acutely lobed, often subopposite, in weak plants sometimes much reduced, rarely to a small entire pair. Stipules normally very large, sometimes over an inch broad, the pairs cordate-amplexicaule, often overlapping around the stem, openly cut-serrate or dentate-lobed in the rounded outer margin which is abruptly contracted into the ovate-acuminate incurved terminal lobe. In reduced plants the stipules are smaller and nar rower, the lowermost sometimes entire. Branches openly com pound, widely spreading or loosely ascending, bearing spread ing racemes. Racemes commonly under a foot in length (4' i6'), often inclined in fruit, minutely pulverulent-glandular and thinly spreading-villose, somewhat closely many-flowered or the lower flowers distant on slender ascending pedicels 2"-5" long, the uppermost sometimes subverticillate clustered. Bracts
relatively large, the narrow lobes ciliate-fringed, often exceed ing the flowers at anthesis ; bracteoles lanceolate-attenuate, nar rowly 3-cleft or entire. Flowers 4"-6" broad, bright yellow ; anther-cells separated by a distinct connective ; flower buds ovoid, narrowed to a prominent point, minutely glandulose. Mature fruit reflexed, large, 3"-6" long over all and as wide across the bristles, short-turbinate, mostly contracted abruptly to the stipitate base, strongly fluted, pulverulent-glandulose, of ten slightly strigose at the extreme base ; bristles numerous, spinose, loosely covering the convex disk, the lowermost re flexed from the prominently expanded margin of the disk, those above spreading and erect, the innermost slightly exceeding the acute beak-like calycular process and at least half the length of the fruit. The mature calyx-lobes taper into rigid, minutely hooked points which are finally incurved together, a feature which \Valroth recognized by his name gaVosepa/a. The roots are fibrous, often slightly thickened throughout their length, but never tuberous. They are not fragrant as those of the European A. Eupatoria are said to be. (Plate 282, fig. r.) Borders of woods and thickets in sun or half shade, growing in vigorous groups or sometimes scattered.
Begins to flower at New York in the first week of July, two or three weeks in advance of any other species, and ceases to flower in August, also earlier than any of its congeners. The date of first flowering has ranged in nine years from June 29 to July io.
The young herbage, when crushed, exhales an agreeable fra grance which somtimes even suggests that of the Japanese Honey suckle.
It may be noted that the name hirsuta of Muhlenberg now adopted for this plant displaces hirsuta of Bongard for a Brazilian species.